


A Shadow in the Dreadfort

by seraph7



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Generation Kill
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Fusion, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-09-16
Updated: 2016-09-16
Packaged: 2018-08-10 06:35:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,334
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7834039
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/seraph7/pseuds/seraph7
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Arya and Sansa have finally returned home to the North. They hire an elite band of sellswords skilled in recon to help them break into the Dreadfort and bring Ramsay Bolton to justice. </p><p>Arya insists on joining the team who start infiltrating the castle and bumping people off. After all, the entire North believes that she is meant to be married to that vile creature. She has to do something before he comes for her. Cue tense cat and mouse game as the team try and stay one step ahead of Ramsay and Roose.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Shadow in the Dreadfort

**Author's Note:**

> This is a not-for-profit fanwork. All characters are the property of their respective copyright holders.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sansa and Arya enlist some help to take back Winterfell from the Boltons.

They had paid the extortionate rate of twelve silver stags for the exclusive use of this room. The girls had no wish to be overheard, especially in the light of what they had planned. Deep in their home territory of the North, and hiding from the might of the usurper Boltons, they had a plan so daring and bold that they had to risk it.

Arya listened for the agreed signal. One long knock, then two short quiet ones and a scratch.

She unlocked the door, letting them in. She was taking no chances, making sure that they were unobserved, not even by a maid or a fellow guest. Until the could establish themselves, too much could go wrong.

"Gentlemen-" Sansa greeted the two men with her customary politeness. "I'm glad you could both make this meeting." From the start she was determined to keep things on a business-like footing.

Arya locked the door behind them, bolting it to be sure. "I think we can all unveil now, sers."

"I took the liberty of ordering a light evening repast. I hope you'll join us?" Sansa greeted their guests with her most polite and pleasant smile. “Please, I’m am sure we can be civilised about this?”

They looked at each other warily over the food and wine, waiting to see who would drop their hood first and reveal their true appearance.

At last the leader of the group dropped his hood and extended his hand. "My lady, who do I have the pleasure of addressing, if you don't mind? I know of Lady Arya from our travels, but we have never met."

Sansa looked at him over the rim of her goblet trying to conceal her surprise. The man she only knew as 'Nate' was a great deal younger than she thought he would be. From their correspondence she had anticipated a warrior, battle-hardened and worldly-wise. This man was youthful in appearance, pretty as a maid with candid green eyes that seemed to take in and assess everything at a glance.

"You may for the moment refer to me as 'Alayne Stone'" she told them, ignoring the blond man's raised eyebrow. She wasn't going to take any chances, not until she knew that she could trust them. If she had to give them a bastard name, a false mask then that was understandable.

"And your real identities?" the other man had thrown off his hood, revealing blond hair and fiercely blue eyes. She could see the tension in his finely carved jaw as he drank deep, taking them both in.

"Is that necessary?" Sansa said in a deceptively pleasant voice. "Ser Colbert, isn't it?"

"If you are expecting my men and I to risk our lives in your service then I would say so, aye."

"We have to trust them at some point, why not now?" Arya urged. "They won't be able to help, unless they know what is at stake. These men know their business, Sansa."

She sighed, relenting as she relaxed her rigid control for a moment. "Arya and Sansa of House Stark."

The two men exchanged a significant look. Despite the fact that they had just spent the last couple of years in Braavos working on and off for clients in the Free Cities, they were reasonably well informed about matters here.

"In the circumstances I can understand your caution. You risk a great deal being here." Nate remarked.

"We don't really have a choice, ser. In fact I would say that you and your men are our only hope in carrying out this audacious move, but my sister seems relatively confident of your skills and she knows of what she speaks."

"What is it that you wish us to do?" Nate asked, trying to work out what these two scarily self-assured young ladies wanted with his team. He suspected with the unrest in the Kingdoms and the downfall of their house, they had to grow up very swiftly.

"After all, we do have a particular skill set, you realise." there was a quiet confidence, an arrogance in Brad's voice that was hard to miss.

She eyed the tall blond, sensing that he was going to be harder to charm than Nate. For all his cool good looks he was wary, never seeming to let anyone in. That blond facade as cold and ruthless as ice.

"Our aim is to infiltrate the Dreadfort, the stronghold of House Bolton and take out Roose Bolton and Ramsay Snow. Then we hope to take back Winterfell and rebuild our home." Arya started, using the salt-cellar and ewer as markers to illustrate her point.

Sansa nodded in agreement over her goblet of wine. "Ideally, I would like to be able to have them alive to bring them to justice, but you needn't worry too much about that. Dead is just as good, as far as those two are concerned."

Brad looked at the two ladies with obvious surprise at the determination and barely hidden ruthlessness with which she spoke. 

"He took my father's territory and wrecked our stronghold. We just want our inheritance back." Arya insisted.

Sansa poured wine , smoothing the situation over with practiced diplomacy."So you see, 'tis quite a task we ask of you and your men, but I have every confidence that you all will rise to the occasion."

They were right, it was just wild enough, audacious enough that even hardened reconnaissance men like them were intrigued by the challenge they had been set. Two young girls, planning to take out their rivals and take back their castle once more.

"You have enough to cover the down payment? Our services do not come cheap." Brad interjected, injecting a note of practicality into the proceedings.

Sansa smiled, seemingly unperturbed by his faintly hostile tone. "Do not worry sers, I assure you that we have enough to cover your fees."

Nate shot Brad a look, seeking to placate their potential new employers. He could sense that his second-in-command was dying to refuse the commission, to walk away from what promised to be a political cluster-fuck, but he would follow Nate's lead, as he always did.

Sansa unlocked the small chest on the table. "I think that's more than enough to cover any initial payment with more to come with a successful outcome." She gave him a persuasive smile, quietly confident in winning them over.

"We just want to know that we will get our money's worth." Arya added.

"I must know what I am getting my boys into." Brad said with a dry little chuckle, reluctantly admiring their audacity.

"We won't make a decision until we have discussed it with our group." Nate said. 

"When shall we hear from you, ser?"

"Two days, my lady. We shall have an answer for you then."

* * *

As soon as the men left, the girls started to confer about their meeting and their chances of success. On the whole the meeting was an unquestionable success - if the gentlemen would agree to take the case and aid them.

“So do you think we managed to persuade them?” Arya remarked.

Sansa frowned, fingers figeting on the glass the only sign contradicting her outward serenity. “I’m not sure. “

“Oh, is that why you were making eyes at him, then?”

Sansa shrugged. "He's the leader of the group. I just wanted to influence his decision a little."

Arya was not convinced. She gave her sister a shrewd glance. "So you decided to flirt with him?"

Sansa opened her mouth to deny it, but Arya just raised her eye brow rather maddeningly.

Sansa's voice was a little sharp as she answered, resenting the implication in her sister’s voice as she did not deny it. "You want them to work for us, don't you? Who else are we going to be able to find to get into the Dreadfort and do what we require?"

_What was wrong with being a little pleasant? The leader, Nate was a gentleman, the knightly sort that a long time ago she would have sighed dreamily over. Pretty too with those candid big green eyes, soft curling reddish gold hair and sweet smiling mouth._

Her experiences at the Eyrie and at King's Landing had taught her to be pragmatic, to use every advantage to get her own way, but she wasn't blind. 

_At least Baelish taught me that, if nothing else._

He was a beautiful man, and had listened to them with interest and compassion but she had no doubt that Nate used his looks to get his own way to get people to underestimate him as she had nearly done once she had met him.

* * *

Back in their quarters the men were still discussing the girls and the mission that they had presented to them. 

People are still loyal to the Starks, although they keep that quiet now.

I can't say that I blame them.

“We've walked right into a hornet's nest, and no mistake.” Brad warned.

“So what was the job they asked for?”

“They want us to infiltrate the Bolton stronghold and take out the lord and his son. Can it be done?”

"We can certainly do some recon on the position. I don't see why not. Get a team together and we'll go with the youngest."

"What do you think, Holsey?" Nate asked.

"I've been keeping my ear to the ground while we're here. They've been completely upfront with us about their aims. I think secretly the people would welcome them back if it weren’t for the brute force of House Frey and Lannister. Quite the political hotspot we have here.”

"Exactly what we don’t need."

"I'll say this for the girl, she has balls."

Which one do you think is most dangerous?

Brad thought about it. As far as he was concerned both of them were trouble but he couldn't deny that their mission posed a challenge, one that he couldn't resist. If they could pull this one off...

_The eldest...Sansa. there was something about that girl. Behind that innocent girlish exterior there was a ruthless edge, a steel all the more dangerous for being concealed. Brad felt there was something about her that he did not trust. He would give a great deal to know exactly where she had got all that gold, for example._

"You have to ask yourself, where did she get that gold?" he contented herself with saying.

"Does it matter as long as we get paid?" said Trombley with unconcealed impatience.

Brad eyed the new recruit with some suspicion. He might have known that Trombley would not have worried too deeply about the legality of the gold they were being paid with. As long as it went in his pocket, well-

He trusted his gut, it never led him wrong, and if it was saying that these girls and their hare-brained scheme to retake the North with a whole lot of nerve, dubious amounts of gold and the blades of a few good men was bound to be trouble, then he .was right to be wary.

"Shall we put it to the vote? All in favour say 'Aye!' Nate said.

Nate, Walt, Rudy, Mike Wynn and Kocher all raised their hands.

Brad shook his head. _Was he the only person who thought that this was a bad idea?_ "Very well, since you have already made up your minds about this."

* * *

The Next Day

"We have discussed the issue at length within the team." Nate said with further preamble as he and his deputy met with the Stark girls. Time was of the essence, if they were to effectively start and complete this mission. If all goes to plan House Bolton won't even know what hit it. Already he was mentally planning strategies, ways to infiltrate the Castle and get more information on who exactly they could trust.

"And? Will you accept the job?" Sansa asked him, blue eyes fixed on his face, eager and bright. For a moment she could barely hide the hope on her face and it struck Nate just how young and out of her depth she really was. That serene mask would have fooled many people, but behind the coldness lay two women trying their damnedest to regain what was theirs.

"Aye, we shall." Nate told them. Behind him, Brad's face was stone-like but he did not protest.

"Glad to be doing business with you."

* * *

Nate waited until the team had dispersed before talking to Brad. The silent disapproval radiated off him in waves. Privately, Nate was impressed that Brad managed to hold his tongue during the meeting.

“Something is troubling you about this mission, Brad.” He remarked over a pint of the dark ale brewed here.

“What made you think that?”

Nate just looked at him. “You know, if you have misgivings, you are allowed to voice them, here with me.” he reassured him.

“You’re sure about this?” Brad couldn't help questioning, poking at things until he was satisfied.

“Who will help them if we do not? Who do they have to turn to?” Nate asked him. 

Brad can’t argue really, much as he sneers constantly at the ridiculous rituals of chivalry and all the bullshit that goes with it, the fact of the matter is he knows that Nate is right.

“It’s our duty to help them as decent human beings. Though I will not deny it, the gold would certainly help company finances and they’re willing to pay outright for a job well done. Just think Brad, Mike won’t even have to send them an invoice.”

Brad’s mouth was set in a firm line. Nate knew roughly what he was thinking without him having to say a word. _Why is this our problem? We’re sellswords, not knight-errants._

“I need my second-in-command with me. Are you with me?” Nate urged and he knew at that moment that he would follow him anywhere.

“You know that I am. Always.”

“Good,” Nate said, grasping his shoulder and allowing himself the luxury of touch.


End file.
